Wrong date on Ed Koch's tombstone corrected

By Lorenzo Ferrigno, CNN

Updated 6:41 AM ET, Wed June 19, 2013

Photos: Ed Koch through the years9 photos

Ed Koch through the years – Ed Koch speaks at the renaming of the Queensboro Bridge in his honor in May 2011. The brash former New York mayor died Friday, February 1, of congestive heart failure at 88, his spokesman said.

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Photos: Ed Koch through the years9 photos

Ed Koch through the years – Koch campaigned for a New York State Assembly seat in August 1962.

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Ed Koch through the years – Koch, a three-term mayor of New York, rides the subway in January 1978.

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Photos: Ed Koch through the years9 photos

Ed Koch through the years – Koch reads The Washington Post during a newspaper strike in New York in 1978.

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Ed Koch through the years – Koch, here in his office in 1980, was a popular mayor for three terms until David Dinkins defeated him in the 1989 Democratic primary.

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Ed Koch through the years – Koch at a July 1986 press conference at City Hall with Jesse Jackson.

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Ed Koch through the years – Rudy Giuliani, then U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Koch meet the press in January 1989.

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Ed Koch through the years – Koch rests on the steps of City Hall in May 2001. After leaving office, Koch practiced law, hosted a radio show, wrote a newspaper column and made countless TV cameo appearances.

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Ed Koch through the years – Koch leaves a morning breakfast in September 2011 in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg discussed Lower Manhattan's growth following 9/11.

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Story highlights

Ex-New York Mayor Ed Koch's tombstone featured wrong birth year until Tuesday

Koch was born December 12, 1924, but his tombstone at Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan made him appear 18 years younger than he was -- December 12, 1942, was set in stone.

The company responsible for the etchings on the marker became aware of the mistake Monday. The transposed numbers were fixed Tuesday morning using composite granite, according to George Arzt, Koch's former press secretary as mayor and his spokesman until his death.

The birth and death dates were added within the past 10 days, according to an etching company representative.